Earth's Processes

Question 1

What proportion of incoming solar radiation is reflected back to space?

Answer 1

30%

Question 2

What is the cause of global atmospheric circulation patterns?

Answer 2

The Coriolis Effect and energy/temperature gradients across the earth’s surface

Question 3

What are Aquatic Biomes defined by?

Answer 3

Environmental gradients

Question 4

What are Terrestrial Biomes defined by?

Answer 4

Climate gradients

Question 5

What does NEE stand for?

Answer 5

Net Ecosystem Exchange

Question 6

Which elements makes up more than 1.5 % in living things but less than 2% in the Earth’s crust?

Answer 6

Carbon, Nitrogen and Hydrogen

Question 7

How can you calculate NEE?

Answer 7

NPP - Rh. or
GPP - Reco. or
GPP - Ra - Rh

Question 8

What is the largest source of nitrogen emissions?

Answer 8

Road Transport

Question 9

Which element is the limiting factor for photosynthesis in the Southern Ocean?

Answer 9

Iron

Question 10

What process is the largest C sink?

Answer 10

Photosynthesis

Question 11

Describe Immobilisation?

Answer 11

The process in which nitrate and ammonium are taken up by soil organisms and therefore become unavailable to crops.

Question 12

Describe mineralisation?

Answer 12

The decomposition of the chemical compounds in organic matter, releasing nutrients to plants.

Question 13

List the different types of plate tectonic boundaries?

Answer 13

Divergent, Convergent, Transformative

Question 14

Why are Ocean’s important?

Answer 14

Control climate and weather patterns, circulate heat and dissolved suspended material around the planet, are a large planetary heat sink.

Question 15

What are surface currents influenced by?

Answer 15

Tides, wind, land masses, earthquakes, earth rotation, thermalise circulation

Question 16

What drives thermaline circulation?

Answer 16

Differences in density caused by temperature and salinity

Question 17

What is Albedo?

Answer 17

The measure of how much light is reflected without being absorbed.

Question 18

Give examples of heat sinks?

Answer 18

Oceans, lakes, wet dark soils.

Question 19

What is a heat sink?

Answer 19

Area that absorbs most of the incident radiation.

Question 20

What biomes reflect radiation?

Answer 20

Sea ice, fresh snow.

Question 21

Name the atmospheric circulation cells?

Answer 21

Hadley, Ferrel, Polar

Question 22

How does the rotation of the earth effect air?

Answer 22

Deflects it from it’s straight path.

Question 23

What are the four major reservoirs for the carbon cycle?

Answer 23

Atmosphere, oceans, land and fossil fuels.

Question 24

What does NPP stand for?

Answer 24

Net primary production

Question 25

What does GPP stand for?

Answer 25

Gross primary production

Question 26

What does Reco stand for?

Answer 26

Respiration

Question 27

What does Ra stand for?

Answer 27

Autotrophic respiration

Question 28

What does Rh stand for?

Answer 28

Heterotrophic respiration

Question 29

How do you calculate NPP?

Answer 29

GPP - Ra

Question 30

Give two sources of carbon in the carbon cycle?

Answer 30

Volcanism, Respiration

Question 31

List some carbon sinks?

Answer 31

Air-sea gas exchange, weathering, carbonate precipitation, organic matter burial, subduction, photosynthesis.

Question 32

How can we measure carbon fluxes?

Answer 32

Satellites, scaling, chamber measurement.

Question 33

What effect does carbon fluxes have?

Answer 33

Crop yield variations, heat wave, drought, heavy precipitation, extreme frost, heavy storms.

Question 34

Describe the evaporation/ transpiration stage of the Hydrological cycle?

Answer 34

Liquid to gas phases change, driven by solar radiation and air temperature.

Question 35

Describe the condensation stage of the Hydrological cycle?

Answer 35

Gaseous to liquid phase change, cooling of water molecules leads to formation of water droplets.

Question 36

Describe the Precipitation stage of the Hydrological cycle?

Answer 36

Rain or snow falls to earth, occurs when water droplets reach a certain size.

Question 37

Give an example of Interception?

Answer 37

Mountains

Question 38

Define Percolation?

Answer 38

Water movement through deeper soil layers and rock.

Question 39

What is infiltration?

Answer 39

Water movement through the air-soil boundary layer.

Question 40

What is run-off in the Hydrological cycle?

Answer 40

Drainage of water from a catchment into streams and rivers, subsequent transfer to ocean

Question 41

List sources of nitrogen?

Answer 41

International shipping, road transport, agriculture, commercial combustion, industrial production, power generation.

Question 42

What role does soil play?

Answer 42

Food production and security, regulates CO2 emissions, stores and filters water, cycles and stores nutrients, Biodiversity

Question 43

What problems do humans pose upon soil quality?

Answer 43

Increasing food demand due to human population growth, salinisation, acidification.

Question 44

What improvement could be made to reduce soil degradation?

Answer 44

Reduced tillage, cover crops, soil bunds and terraces, mulch with crop residues.

Question 45

What improvements could be made to reduce soil nutrient deficits?

Answer 45

Return organic wastes to soil, crop rotations, nitrogen fixings crops, use of organic and mineral fertilisers.

Question 46

What problems do artificial fertilisers pose?

Answer 46

Un-used nitrates run off fields and enter water systems, causing eutrophication and prolific algal blooms.